Promote ReconciliationIn order to move forward as a society, Kosovo must come to terms with its past. To date, little progress has been made, despite reconciliation efforts by outside actors. While the impulse for reconciliation must come from within, international actors can help to create the conditions in which reconciliation is likely to take place. Establishing individual criminal responsibility for wartime abuses is an important step. Yet progress on domestic war crimes prosecutions has been extremely limited, with only around 24 cases completed since 1999. Poorly adjudicated prosecutions before national courts, absent suspects, witness intimidation and inadequate prioritization form part of the explanation. Determining the fate of missing persons is also an important element of coming to terms with the past. Despite some progress in determining the fate of missing persons, more than 2000 remained missing as of mid-2007, the majority ethnic Albanian. All known remains exhumed in Serbia have been transferred to Kosovo. In order to deliver justice for all victims of war crimes in Kosovo, national and international authorities must show renewed political will to prioritize national prosecutions of war crime cases, while the witnesses are still alive. Renewed efforts must also be made to determine the fate of the missing. It is not too late to reach out to victims’ families and friends, and to victims’ associations to establish the truth about what took place and bring those responsible to justice. Recommendations:
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